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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Chinese women face hiring issues

Chinese private sector has become a nuisance for Chinese women in the country. The tough hiring laws practiced in China have come in the way of Chinese women, though, on paper, the law protects women.

Women who are pregnant could be fired from their job. A woman is not able to get maternity leave, which means that women are not entitled to have a child while working for a private sector. Such stringent laws practiced in china have not done any good for its women.

But of late, many women have overlooked private sector jobs for government jobs. At least now, they have more freedom, and can apply for a maternity leave of 90 days, which is very much absent in the private firms.

If one goes through the law book, the story is entirely different. The Chinese have placed laws to protect women. In fact, the 2005 amendment of protection of woman's right and interests had stressed for more gender equality. But there are loopholes in the laws as well. Women are supposed to retire 5 years earlier than men, which accounts for reduced pension, and salaries.

However, the fact is very few firms practice what the law states, and there are prevalent gender bias, with women being the sufferer. Sexual harassment tops the list and very few women actually come forward to file a case against their employers.

Employers view hiring of women as additional burden on their shoulders. They would have to bear the burden of maternity leave, if women gets pregnant, with the result that few private sector firms are actually hiring newly married women.

On the other hand, government jobs pay less, but women find it more acceptable. A pay of around US $600 a month plus housing allowances is far more acceptable, if they could have babies.